3.5 stars.

I originally received an arc of this but since I took so long to get to it the book has already been released, haha.

I love Ann Liang's other books, her contemporary romances are what I read to get my fluffy, sweet, and wholesome fix. They're great for a pick me up or a change of pace away from the usual fantasy genre.

So I was super excited to read her adult debut.

I remember that there was some mention of magic or fantasy in here but I would say it's practically not there. It's very, very light and you don't even get that much interaction with it. I'd say this is more of a historical romance/retelling. Although, I'm not too familiar with the source work it's adapting.

This book has a more serious vibe than her previous stories and not much on the fun banter, or swoony scenes you'd come to expect. There are great moments where there are scenes written with lots of emotion and the audiobook narrator (Natalie Naudus) does a fantastic job.

I wish there had been more scenes between Xishi and Fanli because I wasn't entirely convinced their romance was some deep moving connection. Also, I wish there had been more of the push and pull aspect of Xishi trying to seduce and sway Fuchai because he seems to become enraptured by her far too easily. So I wasn't as engaged when they had their scenes together.

The ending of this book was great though, it brought up my rating from a 3 to a 3.5 because of how different and almost shocking compared to how you'd think this story would end. I think this is pretty good foray into the more adult side of publishing and I'm curious how she delves into genres outside of her usual contemporary romance stuff.

Also, the cover is gorgeous!

earc provided by Net Galley.

Thank you to NetGalley, St. Martin's Press, Macmillan Audio, Ann Liang, and Natalie Naudus (audio narrator) for the opportunity to read and listen to the audiobook of A Song to Drown Rivers in exchange for an honest review.

In a dramatic retelling of a Chinese myth about a rare beauty, Xishi is tasked to utilize said beauty to infiltrate the palace of an enemy kingdom and win the heart of the king, Fuchai.

Selected by a general of her own kingdom, Xishi and Fanli develop feelings for each other. They both know this puts her mission at risk, because she must woo the king and force him to let his guard down for her, to mess up in his attentions and his direction of money spending that it messes up their military strength.

Xishi does a great job using her beauty to her advantage, though her feelings for Fanli put everything at risk. If she is found out, Fanli's life would be forfeit, but so would the fates of both kingdoms.

This was such a heart-wrenching historical romance. The writing style of the novel and the narration of the audiobook make for a powerfully executed story. The characterization is amazing. Liang really gets you rooting for Fanli, but she also make the reader want to root for Fuchai. How can one choose? The ending was one of those where you have to sit and ponder for awhile about everything that just happened.

The story had a nice blend of thrill but that pleasurable aspect of romance that any reader of historical romance or Chinese mythology would appreciate. I especially appreciated the drama and the choices Xishi was ultimately faced with. This novel certainly does not disappoint. Better for adults, though some older teens may enjoy this one as well.

I LOVED this book. The cover is what ultimately drew me in. Absolutely gorgeous! I loved the characters and this one really made me feel all the feels.

I do not know what I was expecting when I picked up this book but I know for sure I wasn't expecting to have my heart broken. This story is so beautifully written and deals with so many complex topics around class, morality, and what it means to be a woman in a man's world. I absolutely love this book and it will definitely stick with me.

I’m shook. The ending. Wow!

Im always saying I need to read more books (especially fantasy) that don’t have happy endings/have actual consequences & THIS IS IT!!!

Did I want more about why there was even war? Absolutely. Did I think some of the side characters were lost/unexplored? Also yes. & our FMC didn’t really do too much BUT this book was so good & I am so mad it took me this long to finish.

If you like a slow burn well then buckle up because this has the slowest burn ever. I ate it up.

Thanks again for the ARC.

Absolutely loved the world and the characters, the relationship building, and the constant teasing. While the pacing was nice and made it feel like a quick read, it felt too rushes especially near the end. I anticipated more conflict for the main character with her final decisions, but there didn't seem to be a lot of hesitation and torment. Overall, this is one of my favorites for the year!

I'm not usually one for retellings, especially as a debut, but this was incredibly well done! Lyrical, beautifully written prose pulled me into the story right from the get go. Definitely looking forward to more from this new to me author!

This is a retelling of a story of one of the Four Beauties of China, and all in all, as an adult debut, it's pretty solid. You can tell the author came from YA because she pushes heavy on the flirtation but cuts to black any time anything remotely sexual happens, and we have ~a love triangle, oooooh~. Solid enough read, but honestly, I will probably not remember this in a month.

A Song to Drown Rivers feels like a beautiful folklore, and perhaps it is. It feels like a story I could truly believe it, written out with the full compassion and heartbreaking reality that Xishi must face to be a “heroine” for her own kingdom. How much must a person risk in a matter of years to simply end up as part of the river though?

Thank you to the publisher & the author for this arc. I opened this book thinking i was going to devoured it & all i found was a long introduction of a plan that only develops in a handful of paragraphs & a lot of things to fill in the gaps. This is my first time reading the author & honestly, i think is going to be my last because whatever attempt this was at a fantasy, a retelling or an adult novel failled miserably. It took me days, weeks even, to read past the first quarter of the book & only managed to finish it thanks to the audiobook (also provided by the publisher). The main character loses everyone & then her life at the hands of another character that has no development whatsoever, the characters surrounding her are pushed so far to the side that we can not really establish a connection with them to the point that when we lose them, it doesn't really affect the continuation of the story or makes a halt on the plan of our main character. The world is not even that well developed for such an introduction (that takes at least half the book) & half the 'plot twists' are explained so far ahead in the book that doesn't really take you by surprise. Adding more trauma to the story does not make it more appealing, or the fact that takes several elements from another stories we have read in the last several years & adds nothing different to them. While at some point i did like the romance, the ending of it just left a sour taste on my mouth. Especially how all the things end in the last 10%, how it attempts to touch the delicate strings at the heart of the reader but truly (& this is all my opinion), fails completely. It also attempts to leave a deeper message that there are no really good or bad side in war but everything ends up being horrible, like there is no bright side in any of this but doesn't go further than to a hint at a happy ending. All in all, i didn't like it.

Hi, umm. I am actually really upset I didn't read this ARC sooner BECAUSE IT WAS AMAZING and I promise I will repent of my sins and read the books before the publishing date because the fact I snoozed this book until the 23rd of the month actually brings me pain.

IT WAS SO GOOD. I loved teh subtle world building, the woven legend, the setting, the complexity of the characters, the events, the ending! Gah! I could go on and on and on. I absolutely loved it and shed actual tears. This is one that will linger with you so much longer after you read it.

For those who tried this and dnf'd it, I BEG you to try again.

Thank you to Netgalley and St. Martin's Press for the ARC of this book.

Content: kissing, war torn violence

+review will be shared on instagram (@readingkelsey) and updated here with the direct link.

Beautiful! Definitely different than a lot of fantasy out there right now- more lyrical, sometimes like poetry. I think that made it take a little longer to get into the characters, but by the end the connection was intense. I appreciated the writing and the story immensely. Historical is not always my bag, but this worked for me!!

Love a female rage revenge story! The writing style is lovely and Liang is a talented writer. I enjoyed reading Xishi's story and using her wits and clever tactics to manipulate the king into giving her what she wanted. And how it all ended... wow.

Didn't love: Xishi and Fanli's insta love. They barely knew each other and were somehow obsessed with each other and completely head over heels in love. And after not seeing Fanli for over a year, she was still pining for him. Didn't feel their connection.

Would have liked to see more of the actual training process. This felt very quick and like she was only training for a few days rather than ten weeks.

I'm going to be thinking about this book for a while yet. What an amazing book! Set in ancient China, Xishi is a beauty turned into a weapon to infiltrate the conquering neighbouring kingdom. Her task is to gather as much information as she can as the concubine to the king. However, it's not as simple as it seems. She and the man who trains her start to have feelings for each other. Once she's in the enemy kingdom, she realizes that the king is not all he is rumoured to be. The deeper she gets into the kingdom, the higher the stakes get for her.

I really enjoyed the complexities of Xishi's character. She's so much more than just a beautiful woman. And the author does such a good job showing her humanness and conflicting emotions as she spends more time in the enemy kingdom. While the ending was not what I thought it would be, it was really well wrapped up.

*4.5 stars*

Thank you to Netgalley and St. Martin's Press for the ARC of this book.

This books was not what I had expected. Plot holes abound and an odd way of setting everything up. Not my favorite read this year. I think this should have been more of a YA book rather than a ln adult fantasy.

I really loved this story.

I picked A Song to Drown Rivers up without really knowing what it was about. I didn't read the blurb they give you, I just liked the cover and knew it was Asian inspired.

Boy did I go for a ride. Liang did a great job keeping me glued to the pages. She took politics and made it captivating. I needed to know what was going to happen next. How was Xishi going to entrance Fuchai? What would he do if he found out her plans?

Liang did a really nice job making me love Fuchai, the enemy king. I loved that he wasn't purely evil, but rather...morally grey as some would say. I liked how you could tell Xishi was torn between him and her duty to the Yue. At times I almost wished she didn't have to follow through with her plans.

The ending had me sobbing. I liked the change in perspective and I think it really added to the story.

This book had a great story and tackled some tough questions about morality, loyalty, and guilt. There were also a lot of great quotes throughout. I definitely recommend reading it.

Well, I can’t remember the last time I read a book where the ending truly ripped my heart out and stomped it into a million little pieces. Because this book did just that—however, I loved it so much.

I picked this one up not being familiar with the legend of Xishi. I don’t think that hindered my reading experience in any way. As soon as I began reading, I was hooked. The writing was captivating and so beautiful.

I fell in love with Xishi, and Fanli too, despite his cold exterior. While their romance wasn’t the prime focus of this story, I was still rooting for them and cheering them on. Until the very end. 🥲

I highly recommend getting yourself a copy of this. The hardcover is also gorgeous with beautiful sprayed edges! It’ll look good displayed on your shelf 🙂‍↕️

Couple of things to note before diving into this review. A Song to Drown Rivers is marked as a historical/romance fantasy and it does technically fit the bill.. but not in the way most people have come to expect. I was not personally bothered by it, but I know some people will be. If you are looking for a book steeped in magic or mythical creatures, this is not the story for you. If you are looking for a retelling of figure from Chinese history with very light fantasy elements, then go ahead and give this a try!

A Song to Drown Rivers is a beautifully written story based in ancient China. It touches upon the the story of Xi Shi, one of the first Four Beauties of Ancient China. I really enjoyed all elements of the book, and I feel like some what of a broken record here, I do think the story and characters would've benefited from this being--a minimum--a duology. I tend to really struggle with stand alone books for this reason. Especially ones where the story spans over a long period of time. A great stand alone doesn't leave you wishing there was MORE to the book (other than just wanting to stay longer with the characters/world that is). A Song to Drown Rivers had the potential to be a heart breaking master piece but because we aren't given a lot of time with the characters and their developments, the emotional impacts are shorted.

Not that they still weren't there. I was truly shocked by the ending. And I know this review sounds negative, but I did very much enjoy reading A Song to Drown Rivers. It has all the elements I love about a good story, I just wanted to be more invested.

Thank you NetGalley and St. Martin's Press for the ARC. All thoughts and opinions are my own.

Inspired by the legend of Xishi, one of the famous Four Beauties of Ancient China, A Song to Drown Rivers is an epic novel steeped in myth about womanhood, war, sacrifice, and love against all odds as the fate of two kingdoms hangs in a delicate balance.
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This book was so beautiful and heartbreaking in so many different ways! Xishi was such a badass. She was the most beautiful woman in her land and was sent as a tribute to their enemy. She had lost her sister in front of her, so her revenge was palpable her mission to infiltrate which she did very well. By the end the revenge was costing so many more lives, innocent and otherwise.
This story is heart wrenching at the end. I wasn’t expecting the range of emotion I was taken on in a few short pages. Fanli was so stoic and that ending for him 😭
This story was so beautifully written and loved every bit of it.

An incredible historical fiction novel showing the power of loyalty and love, and the strong theme of sacrifice.

This was such a rollercoaster of emotions, and I deeply felt each one from start to finish. The writing was intimate and incredibly detailed, giving life to even the most mundane parts of the book. The plot was easily digestible but still riveting. There are a few plot twists that came completely to a surprise to me. Though this is presented as a historical fantasy novel, there were no fantasy elements whatsoever. Normally this would be a markdown in my mind, but the historical element readers were given was done so well that I didn’t mind. The locations felt mystical and magical, even though they were very real in nature.

There is incredible inner dialogue with our FMC for the entirety of the book, and giving readers a chance to see the emotion in full was a gift to be able to experience. The character development was outstanding, and not just for our FMC. It was a joy to watch the change happen slowly. Though the spice was clean, the aspect of the love triangle and pretend feelings made up for it wholly in my mind.